Bush's Shrinking Safety Zone
 

A 29 Nov 2005 commentary that asks a rather accurate question:
I am reminded how long ago those who know this stuff were warning us about George Jr. Way back when, the Norwegian foreign minister said that George Jr would destroy the Oslo Accords. He did.

They let him out for just one minute. He says, "No one expected the levees to be breached." ... when he was told the previous Saturday night that the levees would be breached (defacto president Cheney was probably furious.) But few back then few really understood what a mental midget looks like.

All hail Richard Nixon ... for same reasons.

Just like his reelection campaign. :neutral:

I have a friend who got to be one of those "lucky" enlisted guys sitting in the rows on the platform when W. spoke at an army base. My friend said the whole thing was rehearsed endlessly and that W treated the soldiers like shit. Refused to so much as shake a single hand or acknowledge them once the dog and pony show was over.

From the NY Times of 30 Nov 2005:[ Where do Fox News and Rush Limbaugh daily get their talking points faxed from? Is this really new - or just proof of what is widely known?

Clearly the administration did not out Valerie Plame. Administration said so. I believe them .... while vomitting.

tw, off topic, but ......do you have some aversion to the word "the" ??? it seems that you rarely use it.

Well, he did use the word "the" twice in the reply just above yours, LJ. I think tw is making good progress in overcoming is his difficultywith the "the" word. He's trying. Leave the boy alone! ;)

Propaganda and warfare go together like birds of a feather. Its like peanut butter and jelly...soup and sandwich...Laurel and Hardy...Jekyll and Hyde...theocracies and totalitarianism.

When Tiger Woods began changing his swing, I got inspired to fix my form as well. I clearly must learn to write with fewer words. Since "THE" was the first word I learned in 1st grade, then it seemed like a good place to start.

"The Cat in the Hat sat on the Mat". Let's see. "A Cat in the Hat sat on the Mat". Well it does change the meaning. "The Cat in a Hat sat on the Mat". Not good enough. "The Cat in a Hat sat on a Mat". Even better. It still says what was originally intended - with four less letters.

I am so amused and totally curious. Been experimenting with the elimination of extraneous "THE"s. Never thought anyone would notice. Leave it up to a 'Straight guy with a queer eye' to see it. BTW, not the 'Straight guy ....' . A 'Straight guy....'

Lumberjim, did you also notice Tiger's new swing? I am completely fascinated (and feeling a little exposed) that you noticed my change.

Anytime you swap the indefinite article for the definite article you are changing the meaning of a constituent.

... sometimes. In this case, the elimination of "THE" caused no change in what was intended. It may have caused a change in the many ways another could have interpreted what was written. But the missing "THE" caused no change in what the author intended to say. The one interpretation intended by the author remains intact without "THE". (And now my spelling checker is complaining about dangling prepositions. No one is happy with this language - or why lawyers make so much money.)

Some languages don't even bother with definite articles. English, however, is definitely not one.

I'm not lying. You can trust me. I'm a religious fanatical extremist.

And so we believed everything he said - at least 25% of us who are also so religious extremist as to advocate and endorse torture.
From the BBC of 8 Dec 2005: Even a mental midget would never be this despicable. No wonder he needs Bolton in the UN. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition - did we.

From the BBC of 7 Dec 2005: Wow! Suddenly its no longer acceptable for Americans to Gitmoize prisioners. Clearly god must have told George Jr something he did not know. Now George Jr, god's chosen disciple, can tell us all how to be good Christians.

Where are the above facts in error? Foolish me. I thought religous extremists were good people. My mistake.

From the BBC of 7 Dec 2005: And clearly enlisted men brought dog collars with them to Iraq so as to walk naked prisoners down the halls of Abu Ghriad. Clearly Americans at the highest levels don't condone torture - just like Saddam conspired to attack the World Trade Center. After all, did not an honest president claim that in his State of the Union address?

Honest, decency, morality, and god's chosen people. Yep. That's US. Therefore when we torture, it must be for the greater glory of god ... or maybe our leaders are corrupt?

We have two choices in Iraq. Either withdrawl to let Iraqis *earn* the government they want. Or send 500,000 troops in right now to end the insurgency. No. With Generals repeatedly complaining they don't have enought troops, instead, George Jr has decided he will appease you. He announced troop reductions. Not many. Just enough to hinder military operations in Iraq. He announced exactly what the Generals don't want.

At least in Vietnam where an insurgency also grew due to American presence, still, Americans could be relatively safe in Saigon or on the road to Tan Son Nhat airport. In Iraq, Americans cannot go in most all of Baghdad and are easily killed on but a five mile road to the airport. Yet somehow, George Jr tells us we are winning this war.

Meanwhile, it would appear the administration is quietly seeking to get out of Iraq. That from The Economist of 3 Dec 2005. Well at least the administration is slowly conceding what this author has been saying for years. Even George Jr has conceded that these are insurgents and not his mythical Al Qaeda terrorists. At current count, the US now knows of at least 74 different guerilla organizations. Even the little and overhyped Zarqawi group is suspected, in only eight months, to have grown from a few hundred to a few thousand active supporters.

These are intelligence estimated that have been previously underestimated in this war - as they also were in Vietnam. IOW how much larger is the insurgency in reality.

Recently 10 American Marines were killed in one attack in Fallujah. How can this be? Fallujah only has four entrances. All checkpoint equipped even with explosive sniffing machines. And yet still insurgents harmed 21 Marines in one (of many) attacks by using multiple artillery shells. Hiding those munitions in wreckage from a previous attack. All this inside a city that the US said was safe and that is kept munition free by four heavily guarded checkpoints.

Ahhh, the president would not lie. We are winning the "Mission Accomplished" war that we won years ago. And yet still Iraq produces less electricity today than when Saddam ran the country. George Jr hopes you never learn such facts. But we are winning. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

"Trust me", he says. Somehow I find that to be a tortured conclusion. Suggested by something I think I may have recently read (or quoted).

I read where George Jr has a dress code for the White House. Does it ban blue dresses? As long as there is no blue dress, does that mean the president can lie and not be impeached? Clearly demonstrates what are righteous religious principles. I wonder if dog collars were also banned? Otherwise somebody might get the wrong idea.

From the NY Times of 9 Dec 2005: Clearly the above must be all lies. First, it is contrary to what religous Christian extremists have been telling us. Torture does not produce lies - even though tortured enemies in Guantanamo provide unreliable information. Even though we contract others to do it - rendition. Even though we are not secretly kidnapping people in other nations. Even though numerous people once held in Guantanamo for years are being quietly released back to freedom in their own countries - because they were never terrorists. But these prisons never exists. A righteous Christian tells us so. The president wouldn't lie. Just waiting for George Jr to claim that he also reads his PDBs. After all, what is one more white lie. The nuns told me that lying was a mortal sin. Clearly the nuns were wrong. George Jr is god's chosen one. George Jr would never commit a mortal sin.

tw- i don't necessarily disagree that we need more boots in the sand to bring this to a quick close... but have you read some of the independents, such as Michael Yon.

although the situation is far from good, it is necessarily as dire as we see on TV. i'm just sayin'.

I see, tw, that you are still hellbent to lose the war to a bunch of religious bigots who don't deserve to win anything but a sudden death.

I say you are a fool. You can't even conceive of knowing any better, you walking bundle of wisdomless short circuits. Daily you demonstrate that your third eye needs its glasses cleaned.

Who is looking at TV? Do the numbers. Iraqi unemployment still remains just as high - well in excess of 50%. Why join the army? Army is one of the few jobs that actually pays. Now if that recruit can just stay out of combat - which is why so many Iraqi battalions disappear when the battle starts.

Where are these utilities that are provided how many years after "Mission Accomplished" was declared? Even Saigon had better electrical supply while we were losing the Vietnam War. Baghdad still has less electricity than when Saddam was in power. In Iraq, Americans don't leave the once called Green Zones. Even Vietnam was safer for Americans during that war.

American intelligence numbers say the insurgency is growing in numbers so large that they really are not sure how large the insurgency is. In only eight months, one insurgency group call Zarqawi could increase his numbers by a factor of ten! And new insurgency groups are appearing every month. This is widespread. So where is this victory?

The numbers say things completely different from what George Jr is preaching. For if things were getting better, then why is unemployment so high? Why have the number of battle ready Iraqi battalions only decreased - down to one. If things are getting better, then why have the military stopped talking about ongoing reconstruction? No sense talking about reconstruction when most projects were halted - some literally sabotaged. If things are getting better, then why does more than 25% of all reconstruction money, instead, go to security? Even in Vietnam, construction did not require so much security.

If this were Firestone, then we would all be blaming failures on someone else - ie Ford - and then claim the war against failing tires was being won. Then we could ignore the numbers of failed tires. If the war was being won, then Urbane Guerilla could post some facts demonstrating same. Well, maybe that is too much of a stretch.....

The facts stand sharply consistent with Vietnam of 30 years previous. Americans in Iraq must reside only in areas with multiple layers of security. There are few places outside of Kurdish and southern Iraq that is safe for any American without layers of protection. Even Fallujah, that was suppose to be a secured city instead saw multiple artillery shells maim 21 Marines. This in a city where those shells should have been detected by explosive sniffing machines. So how did all those bombs still get into Fallujah if we are winning this war? Deja vue Vietnam ... all over again. We won that war too? Yes, in the minds of those who denied reality of the numbers. Ie Willaim Westmoreland - may he also sizzle in hell and his own lies.

With current troop levels, we are losing the "Mission Accomplished" war. But the generals have always said we don't have enough troops. Who do you believe? Republican Party spin doctors who decided to "fix" Iraq and who now short the generals of needed troops? Or the generals who actually do the work? The generals say they don't have enough troops. Facts say that we are not winning "Mission Accomplished" - which is only consistent with what the generals are saying.

So how does George Jr win this war? He is currently on a propaganda campaign to 'win the war'. Clearly propaganda can win a war because the enemy is American minds. Does George Jr give the product people - the generals - what they need? Of course not. MBAs win by cutting costs - not solving problems. George Jr need only convince US that the war is being won. So again he can claim "Mission Accomplished". Deja vue Vietnam. The numbers say the "Mission Accomplished" war is being lost no matter how much propaganda George Jr spews.

The numbers are damning to any claim made by George Jr or President Cheney.

The Stryker Brigade that Mike Yon was with seems to be effective. But it looks to me it's like being the world champion at "Whack-A-Mole", they keep whacking but the "Mole" supply seems endless.

On another note....The Iraqui people have been so closely controlled, for so long, I wonder if they've lost all inititive to do anything but wait to see what they are given by the government? :confused:

It makes me wonder how fragile and complex voluntary associations between people are. As we in this country replace choices with mandates and interdependence with dependence, will we reach a tipping point?

Like in New Orleans? ;)

Hey, you can't talk about Kansas like that.

Within Republican extremist circles, they are trying to decide where George Jr will appear in relation to Reagan on the list of great presidents. They don't have a clue because of their .... well we have Urbane Guerilla who has the same grasp of reality.

Today George Jr spent a very short time exposed to the public - in Philadelphia. The boos were loud and aggressive - as any patriot must. To have so much animosity towards a president, one must go all the way back to another scumbag president - Richard Nixon. Presidents that lie for their own personal glory must avoid public exposure. Just being on the streets of Philadelphia - well, news reports suggest violence was on the verge of breaking out.

But then, when was the last time an American president caused the death of 100,000 civilians in a conquered nation. He did not even understand the purpose of war - and therefore left Iraq to simmer for seven months without any effort to construct an ally. Only an idiot leader would have done that. And only an idiot would fire the army and police - in direct contradiction to basic military doctrine. Yet we never had reason to attribute intelligent thought to this man.

As new reports note, George Jr is desperately campaigning for his popularity. It's billed as a speech about Iraq. Finally the public has seen George Jr for what he is - as was becoming apparent so many years ago in those contentious posts between MaggieL and this author. Which one correctly identified George Jr's agenda?

A liar only because he is the mental equivalent of Dan Quayle. He has not a clue - does not even read his PDBs or even the famous four page memo from Paul O'Neill (his Sec of Treasury). But George Jr does have a self serving political agenda. And so he goes about the country, carefully protected from the public, presenting Rush Limbaugh type logic in speeches to defend his fiasco - the "Mission Accomplished" war.

Richard Nixon would sacrifice 35,000 of America's best only because he could not lose Vietnam on 'his watch'. Denial is essential when the president is more concerned about his ranking in history than in the purpose of his job. George Jr would even condone torture to secure a high ranking on that historical list - screw America as necessary. But the George Jr was educated as an MBA - means such thinking is consistent with his education.

And so the patriots in the street of Philadelphia loudly called president names that were appropriate.

We only have two acceptable options in this war we created when we Pearl Harbored Iraq. Either we give the generals sufficient troops to end this problem this year - or we pull out within the year. Anything else - such as the George Jr strategy - will only prolong this war even for a decades, massacre America's best in a "Mission Accomplished" war that cannot be won, and make America one of the worlds less respected nations. Either we must get in to fix the problem, or get out that another president so smartly did in Somolia. It requires a president with real balls - and a grasp of the world.

That was a year ago. The BBC last night announced from Baghdad a result of the latest poll conducted by ABC News, Time Magazine, BBC, Der Spiegel, and NHK. By numbers of two to one, Iraqis declared everything as worse than it was under Saddam. Security has never been worse - although neighborhood security and security in the more rural areas has improved. But other things such as jobs, basic human services, etc all were lists as worse. After US spending $2billion just on the electrical grid, Iraq still has less electricity than under Saddam. Amazing what happens when an MBA throws money at a problem - that he created.

BTW, the ABC News version of the same poll is more optimistic noting gains in Shia and Kurd regions. But most important is the Iraq overall opinion that Americans should leave once the Iraqi government takes power. That means get out in one year.

As the president stomped his 'I'm doing good' tour, remember what the numbers really say in Iraq. Things are getting worse every year the US stays there with woefully too few troops. The generals say we needed about 500,000. George Jr only gives then 135,000. Classic of MBA cost controls.

Finally the BBC World Service reporter noted one more glaring fact. Last year, he recorded the poll's report from inside an Iraqi shopping mall. Today, he says, he does not dare enter that mall anymore. Doing so would only invite death or kidnapping. Yes, Iraq is getting worse every year - no matter what the mental midget president declares - while carefully protected from public view. Just like Richard Nixon - who lied when he declared himself 'not a crook'.

What I found very interesting was GWB's answer to the 'Saddam-9/11' link. He stated that the reason that 9/11 was a reason to invade Iraq was that 9/11 taught him not to ignore danger.

I'm surprised he didn't explain his thinking to Congress when he was seeking authorization. I'm sure they would have understood his reasoning and found it well worth 200 billion dollars and 17,000 US casualties.

Agree or not, at least I could have respected that position. :cool:

ABC itself, left to digest the same poll as tw's BBC

Nothing unites a country like a common enemy.
Uh...that would be us. :smack:

Take a nude picture of yourself and American businesses must now censure your photographs. This because right wing religious extremists have decided they must protect you from yourself. Their religion and morality must be imposed on you. Should your child use a condom, well, that too is evil. Using condoms violates moral beliefs - which must be imposed upon you and your child. Sex should only be for creating children. Even condom use in Africa is now discouraged in exchange for American aid. More righteous religion imposed on other people

Is not one of the commandments "Thou shalt not lie?" Of course. But more important is that a leader lie so as to impose religious extremist rhetoric. It was only a white lie that Bownie was doing a good job or that no one expected the levees to be breached. That the president said aid was coming – when none was coming while hundreds were drowning in their homes. And so they elected a mental midget president who will do anything - even a Spanish Inquisition and torture - to promote the religious extremist agenda.

Just another example of what he will do to promote that agenda. From ABC News of 14 Dec 2005: Is it evil for Wal-Mart to censure one's personal nude photographs? Not when their religion is more important than your rights. Is it evil to commit treason - out a CIA agent? Not when her husband exposed another presidental lie. This is the new moralty - what happens when religious beliefs - the Spanish Inquisition - are more important than American principles.

From the president's own speech of 14 Dec 2005: 1) Saddam was not a threat to US security. He was no longer a threat to his neighbors – as every adjacent nation said. It was Saddam's own wish to avoid all conflict with the US - even obtaining what he saw (and rightly so from his perspective) approval from the US for an invasion of Kuwait.

2) He pursued WMDs. And then we add the facts a mental midget president (who does not even read his memos) forgets to mention. Such as Saddam destroyed his WMDs in 1996 and began a program of deception so that others did not really know how toothless he was.

3) British and American warplanes were openly attacking Iraqi air defense sites long before the "Mission Accomplished" war. These attacks were preparation for an invasion many months later. George Jr just forgot to mention that part. In many if not most cases, the provocateurs were US and British warplanes - so that air defense facilities would 'light up' their radars - so that those radars could be located and destroyed. Some of those attacks were outside of the No Fly Zone. So why were American and British planes that far north?

4) Yes Saddam fought a war against a coalition. That was the Kuwait war - not the "Mission Accomplished" war. And he lost. But that Kuwait liberation was tarnished by Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfovitz, etc when they failed to define a political settlement of that war. They failed to perform their job. They drank champagne rather than provide Schwarzkopf with the necessary conditions of surrender. And so Saddam was permitted to attack and kill maybe 20,000 civilians in Basra as the American army sat only 5 miles away - and watched. Saddam remained in power because America's current leaders (from the George Sr administration) failed to perform their job. They even violated basic principles of war as even defined by Sze Tzu in 500 BC. Let’s not forget who desperately wanted a second Iraq war to correct their historical mistakes.

How convenient this president would distort facts - lie by telling half truths - so that you will think kindly of him. Are you so poorly educated as to not see through his half truths? Some are so politically biased as to deny these facts. Others realize why George Jr needs Rush Limbaugh and Fox News propaganda.

Twist and spin facts for those who blindly believed even lies about aluminum tubes - lies that even experts in America identified. Curious, when the president is a master of propaganda, then many never heard what those experts were saying. Does he still think he can lie and we will believe him? Yes.

Just one paragraph from today's presidential speech - notice how many lies.

The same president who can be trusted to tell us that Saddam was using aluminum tubes for WMDs has routinely subverted other US laws and principles - to even approve of torture. But we need a Patriot Act since Americans cannot be trusted.

Good reasons exist to believe that the administration may have investigated me and so many like me. Is that a desire to make the George Jr Enemies List? I'm sure he has one computerized somewhere because he is like Nixon - demanding absolute loyalty. George Jr's disregard for the law and for American principles are so Nixonian. Why do we need more laws like the Patriot Act? Did I start some kind of vendetta against a mental midget president? Not for a minute. Revelations about outright corruption and anti-American principles by George Jr are now leaking like the Taum Sauk Reservoir dam. Apparently things like the USS Bataan doing nothing for days as Americans died in New Orleans has made little people realize this president is not honest or patriotic. Apparently political attacks on Rep Murta are slowly turning even those with blind loyalty against a lying president. Maybe another levee that George Jr thought would not be breached? Stories of corruption and incompetence by the George Jr administration are leaking daily.

The president authorized electronic monitoring even of American citizens by the NSA. The same NSA that was spying on allied leaders and nations on the UN Security Council only because our allies would not help George Jr to 'Pearl Harbor' Iraq. How many laws can this president disregard? Hundred? Thousands? When does too many become an impeachable crime; more illegal than a White House blow job? Where is Ken Starr when real laws are violated?

Well, if W has an enemies list, I wanna be on it, too. You call W a mental midget, I call him a sociopath. There's no other rational explanation for W's actions and attitudes other than something seriously wrong with his so-called brain - be it stupidity, pre-senile dementia, or emotional illness.

But W is just a puppet, anyhow. Other players behind the scenes have taken advantage of W's stupidity and/or pathology and use him for their own ends. The rest of us turn a blind eye, wave our flags (burning or no), demand that English Only become a state sanctioned holy sacrament, and burn at the stake anyone who says the word "evolution" in the presence of a child aged 5 - 18.

We soothe ourself to sleep at night by mouthing the words of "America the beautiful" to ourselves and recite the Bill of Rights like a priest chanting latin invocations to ward off evil spirits. Latin is a dead language, and the Bill of Rights is dying of gangrene. At least Latin has the advantage of being useful to pre-med students. Might as well burn the Bill of Rights along with your flag. Its a dreary, shameful period in US history, and I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel as anything but an on-rushing train.

Did George Jr approve of torture? Of course. The McCain bill simply quotes US Army training manuals. IOW George Jr even opposes military doctrine on torture. He is that sadistic. Or maybe he never learned that doctrine while AWOL?

Senate voted 90 to 9 against a president who so hates the military as to openly advocate torture. House weighed in with a 308 to 122 vote. Can you believe 122 people in the House actually approve of torture? Not that you need be informed of what is right or wrong. Clearly any decent American knew George Jr was wrong - that torture is that obviously wrong. But it suggests how many potential nazis get elected to Congress.

So why did this president take confrontation so far? It says so much about his morality and integrity. So typical of those who would impose their religion upon others.

The House/Senate vote was 398 to 131 - a three to one landslide against George Jr approved torture. Unfortuately we still have 131 Congressmen who approved of torture. The House vote is provided in ROLL CALL 630 . Does your Congressman, like George Jr, approve of torture?

Patriot Act 'Temporary' Provisions Tanked
 

From here.

There was a chance for agreement on a short extension, something that makes sense for an list of items that are esentially emergency measures and not necessary or justifiable in a future peacetime, but Sen. Frist said the White House wanted all or nothing.

So they got nothing.

I'm all for security, but permanent means forever. It's bad enough my grandchildren will have to inherit a mountain of debt from this adminstration. Should they have to worry about their freedom too?

I'm afraid this minor setback won't assuage their fears much. :headshake

Richard Nixon once claimed before the Supreme Court that he was exempt from laws - citing British common law as precedent. George Jr made a similar claim in his radio address. George Jr said he need not comply with laws; some made specifically because Richard Nixon and his plumbers were doing same. From ABC News of 18 Dec 2005:
"Mr. Bush had secretly instructed the security agency to intercept the communications of Americans and terrorist suspects inside the United States, without first obtaining warrants from a secret court that oversees intelligence matters." That from the NY Times.

Why is the US kidnapping people on streets of other nations? Why is "rendition" transporting abductees (not prisoners) to third countries for activities such as torture - where the Supreme Court can say nothing? Why was Guantanamo Camp Xray established to evade US courts, international law, and to subvert basic human rights?

Nobody expects a Spanish Inquisition. George Jr today admitted to open violation of US law as acceptable, legal, and appropriate. He said the courts need not approve of wiretapping. He said his judgement alone is sufficient to wiretap anyone. Somehow, Eisenhower's U-2 flights over Cuba justify his actions. He also needs a Patriot Act so that other violations of constitutional privacy can be exercised without judicial restraint. Don't take my word for it. His Speech of 17 Dec 2005

A silent response from most Cellar dwellars. Many were not congnizant during Watergate. This is how Watergate started. Most Americans were in denial of Watergate even when Nixon ordered the Saturday Night massacre. Back then, Richard Nixon also acted as if above the law - and most Americans paid little attention. Today, George Jr must be careful to not alienate religious right extremists when he does similar. Nixon made that mistake.

Before 11 September, at least four seperate FBI field offices could have prevented the attack. In at least three cases, George Jr administration halted or hindered investigations. George Jr claims to need extraordinary presidental powers to stop what he all but let happen on 11 September. Can you really trust a man who is told by god what to do? Who subverts 'rule of law' because he knows better? That is essentially what he said in his speech. "Trust me."

Terrorism is a threat to American laws and principles. That terrorist is George Jr. What will he do tomorrow to top this string of anti-American declarations and revelations?

Why does George Jr fear disclosure of "mudane inner workings of his White House"? Terrorists and criminals fear public exposure of their actions and intents. Is there a difference?

Every generation gets fed this special case nonsense, but our generation is so much more comfortable with the state intruding into our daily lives that what should be the beginning of impeachment procedings doesn't even stay on the front page.

This is not a stunning development. This is pure SOP for the administration. Do something wrong, keep it secret as long as posible, and when it comes out they scream that it was the right thing to do, justified by 9-11, and they only kept it secret because of the liberal media. The media, in its pathetic obsession with not seeming liberal, treats that position as if it were just as legitimate as the position that the action should never have been done in the first place, and should never have been keps secret in the second.

By late 2005 standards it is treason, but by 2002 standards it is what is expected. If he had not signed the order in 2002, the American public would have asked for his head.

FDR rounded up ordinary Americans on the basis of their race and put them in internment camps. People thought that was the right thing to do. By 2005 standards it is treason. You behave differently in times of war.

The President becomes a King in wartime.

Only if the courts allow it. The Supreme Court allowed the internment of Americans during WWII. In this case, the Bush White House did not seek the approval of Congress or the courts.

The reason every soldier (and almost everyone else in Government) takes an oath to support and defend the Constitution is that the document, in setting up a three branch government, provides the checks and balances necessary to insure freedom from an authoritarian goverment.

GWB ignored the other two branches to 'protect' us. In doing so, he came closer to becoming more like Hussein, the junta in Myanmar, and many other tyrants who seized power during crisises in otherwise democratic countries by promising security.

Is this hyperbole? Not really. The principle is the same, it's just a matter of degree. I doubt that it could happen here. But I refuse to say 'never'. People think that Germany or Iraq became dictatorships overnight, that in a week or a month they went from democracies to countries dotted with death camps or detention and torture facilities. The reality is that a frightened demoralized people gave away more and more of their authority to a regime and at some point stopped asking questions.

GWB did what he did and got caught. He did not accept any oversight and so could essentially order eavesdropping on anyone. I wonder if he shredded Kerry's file yet?

He's reauthorized it at least 30 times since then.

He has still been in 2002 mode.

So, since it's now 2005, you'd say it's treason?

That's one hell of a dildo! :lol:

I like Bush! :yum:

A bird in the bush is worth two in the hand. :p

So when do we start fighting the war. When do we go after bin Landen?

Bin Laden's dead. Personally, I think we have proof but refused to let him be a martyr by announcing it. But even if he's been vaporized and we have no idea when it happened, the man is dead.

Well, there's always Alec Baldwin.

Wrong war pal. We're fighting the war against Constitutional checks on Executive power. George is winning.

I'm so glad to find out I am not the only person who is sure of that. When I tell people that he has been dead for years now I seem to be all alone in that opinion. Asked why I think his death was not revealed, I explain that we could not have recovered the body for indisputable proof anyway, and the US does not want a martyr which the Muslims can rally around and turn him into a saint. On the other hand, the Bin Laden followers, especially the recruiters of new talent, want to keep the money flowing in which Bin Laden used to control and they also don't want the Arab world to know that the US really DID keep their promise to wipe the guy out. Believe me, it is not that difficult to mix a tape with Bin Laden's voice, because they have practically unlimited funds to invest on the technology (especially with their cells in Germany). And think about it, with all the imense fortune Al Quaeda controls, why are the videotapes of Bin Laden of such dismal quality? ON PURPOSE! So you can't really see for sure who it is! Think how long they could keep up the masquerade if HDTV was the medium?

It is the nature of the Muslim Brotherhood. Bin Laden was just another dandelion in a large field called Muslim Brotherhood. JI in Indonesia is but another example. They were not Al Qaeda. But American spin doctors also need JI to be Al Qaeda to promote their agenda. Just another example of the confusion - and why bin Laden could be perfectly safe, happy, and alive.

Bin Laden's job has simply moved to others by the same method that he inherited the job. He is probably alive. And will remain an inspiration for others to kill Americans. Americans so feared bin Laden as to not go after him. Does not matter whether that is your opinion. That is how bin Laden plays out where it matters.

By not going after him, we only demonstrated that Americans are the equivalent of a paper tiger. Rise up and join the insurgency - Allah Acabar. Even bin Laden lives - no matter what you may suspect. We have George Jr to thank for that.

From here.

I am not exaggerating. I am really and truly not.

I'm sure she believes that.

Falling sky noted. Does anyone want to make an entry on the Cellar calendar for a prediction on when it will land?

The nature of the beast is that the sky only falls on a few people. Keep your head down, and hope it's not you. So far, it's just the towel-heads with funny sounding names that have to worry. I should be safe.



Right? :worried:

Yes. You ARE safe from the horrible possibility of having agents of the federal government listen to your phone conversation without the OK of a federal judge.

And now, so are the towel-heads.

Do you feel safer? You probably aren't.

I just dont care any more
 

If some government agent wants to listen to me, then so be it. I have nothing to hide, at least the terrorests that are here afraid to fart for fear they will be caught.